Lock for tubular frame gates



April 2, 1963 5. J SUSSINA 3,033,551

LOCK FOR TUBULAR FRAME GATES Filed Sept. 14, 1961 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. 2

lNVE/VTOR STA/V J. SUSS/NA B) 04 1 F N I A TTORA/EV April 2, 1963 5. J. SUSSINA LOCK FOR TUBULAR FRAME GATES Filed Sept. 14, 1961 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 //v l/EN 70/? S 734 N J. SUSS/NA B V .q A TTORNE V April 2, 1963 5. J. SUSSINA 3,083,561

LOCK FOR TUBULAR FRAME GATES Filed Sept. 14, 1961 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 mums/r00 By STAN J. SUSS/NA 2 7 TOR/VEV United States Patent )fiFice Fa-tented Apr. 2,. 19.63

3,083,561 LOCK FOR TUBULAR FRAME GATES Stan J. Sussina, 266 Peiham Road, New Rochelle, NY. Filed se t. 14, 1961, Ser. No; 138,113 7 (Jlairns. ((11. 79-139) The instant invention relates to improved locks for securing single or double slide or swing gates framed with tubing or pipe.

It appears that there has actually been little or no attempt to improve either the utility or the appearance of hardware used to secure gates employed in conjunction with chain link type security fencing. Most gates are simply a section of movable fence, framed with appropriate size tubing or pipe, equipped with hinges and some mean to accommodate a padlock. Fittings are frequently crude, bulky, galvanized castings that conform to few tolerances, with wide variations in similar parts furnished by a single manufacturer for the same installation. Gen erally, but'a latching arrangement comes with a gate installation and the owner furnishes his own lock, usually a large, awkward padlock to give the impression of strength.

In the effort to improve upon padlocking of such gates, spring or dead latch arrangements, employing wafer 01' pin tumblers with rim and mortise cylinders, and even heavy prison type locks, have been used. However, since these involved the construction and provision of either a mounting plate or lock box framewithin the framework of the gate, involving extra welding and other labor, both at the mill and in the field, they met with no substantial success. All the more so because of'the tendency of the gate leaf to sag and otherwise to malalign beyond the tolerance of the non-adjustable strike and limited throw of the latch bolt.

An object of the invention is to provide a lock for gates having'a tubular frame for facile installation in the frame tubing or piping of the gate and the adjacent fixed gate post in single gates, and to adjacent portions of the tubular frames of the gates in the case of double gates.

A further'object of the invention is' to provide a selfadjusting. gate lock which is unaffected within wide limits by sagging of the gate;

Still another object of the invention is to provide a gate lock which is substantially tamperproof and not readily removable.

A further object is to provide the additional security resulting from the installation and use of positive locking hardware employing. pin tumblers in a mortise cylinder integral with the gate.

Still afurther object is to provide in gate locks the convenience of one-hand unlocking, the one-key merit of master-keying, and also the security and safety features of retention'of the key in the lock in all' but the locked condition of the looks.

The foregoing, and other objects and features will more readily be understood from the illustrative embodiment of the all-weather mechanical locking device of my invention shown in the appended drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a front view of the embodiment in locked condition installed on tubular framed gates;

FIG. 2 a plan view of FIG. 1;

PEG. 3 a' section along line III-III of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 a section along line'IVIV of FIG. 2, and

FIG. 5 is an exploded view of the lock and cam assembly of myinvention.

Referring to the drawing the lock assembly 10,. comprising as its main elements a from housing 11,. a. rear housing 12, a pin tumbler mortise cylinder lock 13, and a cam unit 14, is mounted ata convenient height from the ground on'tubular post 15, which may bea gate post set in the'ground or a vertical portion ofthe frame of a gate. Each of housings, 11 and 12, are relatively elon gated forming hollow interiors with the post 15 and have tops and" bottoms which face each other and are semicircular, of 'a radius equal substantially to. the external radius of the post at'their faces toward'th'epost. Their external walls form a substantially rectangular housing about the post when'installed, of which the external Walls are continuous except where the two housings abut each other, and for the'recess for the cam assembly andfhasp in the rear housing hereinafter mentioned. While the tubular gate frame and gate post are shoWnas-pipes of circular cross-section, they may be of any hollow crosssection, in which event, the faces of the twohousings toward the gate frame or'post'in'stead of beingcircular conform to the shape of'the'outer surface of such-frame or post; It is pretty standard" practice that gateshave a clearance of' about three inches froin'the ground;-in.other words, this is substantially themaximum possible gate sag. Furthermore, the usual spacing from the. vertical frame portion'ofa gate which-is tof-be locked, to the vertical post or vertical front portion of -the adjacent gate; asmeasured from center to center, is usually three inches.

The'lock assembly 10 'is a'special'pin tumbler mortise cylinderlock, comprdsing'the usual face plate or circular header 16 and an elongated solid'bo'dy 17, longer than theusual cylinder of this type lock, having'arcuate top and bottom faces and planar' side's which sides, in the installedp'osition', are vertical. In the bottom region, and extending'longitudinally in the' body, acor'e is provided through the body which houses the rotatable plug 1 8; The rotatable plug 18 has akeyway' and the tumbler pin aperturestherein in the usual way ofpin tumbler. locks: In the illustrative embodiment, I'have employed'five pin tumblers, and boththe'bod'y l7ai1d'the plug 18 are of a'length' greater than required for the five pin tumblers and their springs. At the portion of the body 17 beyond the fifth aperture through the bodyregisteringwith the fifthpin-tumbler aperture of the plug, averticalthreaded bore 19' extends radiallyfrom the top of'the body .to the plug; Registering with bore 19"is' a milled recess 20 in plug '18"extending' horizontally when the keyway. of the plug-is at its'nor-mal' and lowermostposition, ofsuch' arcu ate extent asto' permitrotation of 'tliepliig not in excess of in either direction from such positionon insertion and turning of the properkey. Rotation of the plugis limited' to such amount'by a set screw 21'- threaded i'nto bore 19 so as to extendint'orecess' 20, the extending end portion of screw 21' acting as" asto'p for the ends of' th e recess when the'plug' is turnedin' eitherdirect-ion, thereby limiting the rotation of the plug." It'w-ill be noted that set screw 21 not only limits matron of the plug but also prevents pulling. of the'plug from the body 17 when the proper'key' for the lock is fully inserted. Furthermore bore" 19 'is so situated 'thatthe inserted free end -ofthe key, on full "insertionof thekey, does notstrike setscrew 21; Beyond recess 20a circumferential oove 22. is cut'into the cylindrical 'suiface-ofplug 18a A: slot. 23 is cut axially in the remote end region of the plug extending forwardly to and in front of groove 22, and the -por-' tion of'the upper wall of slot 23-beyond groove- 22 is likewise removed. An elongated, relatively thin, connecting bar 24 having a forked end extending laterally of the bar per se, is inserted with its forked end into slot 23 and loosely held extending in the axial direction of plug 18 by :arcuate retaining members 25 of which the upper ends are fastened to the exposed portion of the forward Wall of groove 22 by screws 26 and the lower ends held in the portion of groove 22 having the back wall retained.

4 The upper portion of body 17 beyond the radial bore 19, except for enough solid wall beyond such bore is cut away thus leaving the lower portion of greater length than the upper portion, which greater length is sufiicient that such lower portion will extend through the diametrically opposite rear of the post 15 on the front "of which the lock assembly is installed. Body 17 is installed to extend through an aperture 27 on the front wall of the front housing, into the hollow interior of the post by Way of aperture 28 registering with aperture 27, and through an aperture 29, diametrically opposite aperture 28, into the hollow interior of the rear housing. Apertures 28 and 29 may conveniently be drilled through post at the installation site, aperture 28 being vertically elongated to receive snugly the arcuate top and bottom as well as the vertical flat sides'of lock body 17. The rear portion of body 17,-is machined to form a cylinder 30 having a hollow interior bore which is a coaxial continuation of the plug core and of the same diameter, the outer surface of cylinder 30 being threaded. The rear wall 31 of the foreshortened upper portion of body 17 is provided with a threaded bore 32 extending horizontally thereinto for receiving a connecting screw 33 extend- 4 weep hole 44 extends from the lowermost region of lower groove 43, through the bottom of rear housing 12, to drain any moisture which may get into the interior of the housing and thus prevent freezing thereof.

The cam unit '14- is, of course, delivered to the installation site as a complete assembly including the cap nut or threaded bushing 37 and spacer ring 3b. The lock assembly having been installed from the front housing 11 into the post 15 so that the threaded end of cylinder 39 extends from aperture 29, the connecting screw 33 is screwed tightly into threaded bore 32. Thereupon the slot end of stud 34 is inserted through aperture 29 of rear housing 12, into the bore of cylinder 3% and rotated. slowly until the free end of connecting bar 24 is engaged by the free end of slot 35, whereupon stud 34.

is pressed into such bore as far as it will go, which is until the forward end of cap nut bushing 37 strikes the end of threaded cylinder 3%. Then the cap nut is screwed tightly on cylinder 39, initially perhaps manually, and then tightened by an appropriate wrench or similar tool engaged to the non-circular, for example hexagonal as shown, head of the cap nut. Such tightening pushes slot 35 more deeply over the connecting bar 24. Spacer ring 39 is of smaller diameter than the maximum dimension of the head of cap nut bushing 37 and, as has been stated, cam 33 is relatively long as compared to its Width, which width should not be greater than the width of one face of the polygonal head of cap nut bushing 37. Recess 36 being of a height of some three times ing through post 1 at a region thereof which is completely covered, on assembly of the lock housing to the post, by the rear housing 12.

The cam unit 14 includes a machined stud 34 of a strong metal, for example stainless steel, which extends from the rear housing into the interior of post 15 and into the bore of cylinder 30. Elongated slot 35 in the front end of stud 34 is loosely engaged by connecting bar 24 fitting thereinto, andlthus rotates with plug 18 when the proper key is inserted and rotated. The rear end of stud 34 extends into the formed recess 36 in the wall of rear housing 12. The portion of stud 34 within recess 36 has a smaller diameter than the front and slotted porzontal unlocking position can pass through an elongated aperture 40 in the front wall of mortise 4b vertically through hasp 4-1 and, when in the vertical and locked position extends through the upper and lower ports of the mortise with its free end regions within the upper.

and lower horizontal grooves 42 and 43, Within recess 36 of rear housing 12. Thus with the proper key fully inserted to its shoulder in the keyway, the cleavages of the five pin tumblers will be aligned and the key may be turned thus turning the plug, the connecting bar, the stud,

the Width of cam 38, there is ample clearance at both sides of the cam, whatever its position, for the insertion of such wrench or tool. It must here be noted that when the hasp is locked into recess 36 by cam 38, the hasp covering the just mentioned clearances, prevents any unauthorized loosening of cap nut bushing 37. As bushing 37 is tightened, the abutting faces of front and rear housings, l1 and 12, are tightly drawn together and sealed to form the unitary lock housing.

Turning now to the hasp assembly which is installed in the vertical portion 45 of the adjacent tubular gate frame or gate post at the same height from the ground as is the lock assembly on post 15, the hasp 41 is an elongated bar of a strong metal, such as galvanized steel, supported on a vertical rod 46, and while a tight fit thereto nevertheless is pivotable thereabout horizontally. Rod '46 is in turn supported on a bracket 47 which is attached to gate frame portion 45 and pivotable vertically. The ends of rod 46 are preferably welded to the bracket end regions. At about its mid-region, bracket 4-7 is supported on a stud 43 extending through an aperture conveniently drilled in frame portion 45 at the site, stud 48 being threaded at its end region Within the gate frame portion. A contoured rivet nut 49, of which the outer face of the head is substantially of spherical sectorial surface shape while its inner face closely conforms to and rests against the curvature of the frame portion. Nut 4? has an internally threaded sleeve integral therewith, which sleeve extends into the interior of the frame and the cam. Since the pin tumblers and their biasing springs are well known in the art, they are not herein further described. When the key isturned 90 (in either direction) the cam is in its horizontal unlocking position. As long as the cam is out of its vertical locking position, the key cannot be withdrawn from its keyway since the pin-tumbler apertures in the plugno longer register with their corresponding apertures in the body but are against a portion of the smooth and uniform surface of the core of a radiussubstantially the same as that of the plug. The tumbler pin halves in the plug thus cannot move when it is attempted to withdraw the key and hence the key with its projections is locked in place and not removable. A

portion through an aperture likewise conveniently drilled at the installation site, and the stud 4-3, which is welded to the bracket 47, is screwed tightly into the rivet nut sleeve. It will be particularly noted that the contour of the rivet nut 49 precludes any turning of the stud 48 from the front of the gate, the rear being obviously inaccessible, and that as long as the hasp is engaged, neither the stud 48 nor the bracket 47 can be turned sufiiciently to remove them. Furthermore, assume that unauthorized entry is attempted by cutting off the exposed face of rivet nut 49, the portion of the rivet nut remaining would not permit pushing stud 48 back through the gate frame since the stud hole is considerably smaller than the diameter of rivet nut 49.

In the ends of bracket 47 and the top and bottom respectively of the hasp, the ends of a pair of torsion-cornpression springs 59 and 51, are anchored. Both torsion ends of each spring are at right angles to the plane of the turns of the springs and are again bent over the opposite faces of the hasp, respectively, the ends of the bracket.

When the hasp 41 is rotated horizontally in the direction to position its free end within the formed recess 36 of the rear housing 12, both springs are tensioned in the same direction, upper spring 50 being right-hand and lower spring 51'left-hand; When the hasp is locked in recess-36'by cam 38, the springs are tensioned so that when the hasp isunlocked, it automatically tends to rotate in the opposite direction under the tension of both springs acting in the same direction. Thus, except for inserting the proper key and turning it 90 in either direction, it is not necessary to touch or otherwise manipulate either the lock assembly or the hasp assembly to unlock the gate in this one hand operation. At its free end region, hasp 41 has, as stated, an elongated aperture 48 extending through the front wall of the vertical mortise 40 thereof, and of such length and so positioned as to conveniently permit cam 38 in its horizontal unlocking position freely to enter the elongated aperture, and into the vertical mortise, being stopped by the rear Wall of the mortise. Near its pivoted end, the hasp is provided with a loop-shaped handle 52 of which the end regions are bent toward each other and fit into bores in the top and the bottom of the hasp. The loop end of handle is conveniently covered with a covering 53 of, for example, polyethylene. The length of handle 52 is such that when the hasp is locked to the lock assembly, the covered portion thereof extends to the front of the gate frame portion 45, and when the hasp is unlocked and rotated under the tension of springs 5t} and 5-1, the handle swivels in the hasp by the momentum of such rotation, and extends from the hasp in the region between the gate frame 15 and the frame portion 45, where it is conveniently accessible for manually reengaging the hasp to the locking assembly.

The dimension from top to bottom of the hasp is less than the distance from the walls of the rear housing defining respectively the top and bottom of the formed recess 36 of the rear housing, so that there is some tolerance in fitting the hasp into such recess. The length of the hasp is such that in its locked position the hinged end covers the major portion of the gate frame region to which the bracket is pivoted while its free end covers the entire width of rear housing 12.

Should the gate sag, the springs 50 and 51 and the pivotally supported bracket 47 will, nevertheless, permit the hasp readily to enter and leave recess 36. Obviously, when the gate has sagged, the end of the hasp pivoted on rod 46 is lowered. Assume the hasp is locked to the lock assembly, the bracket 47 rotates a sufiicient amount clockwise, as viewed from the front of the gate, to retain the free end in the recess 36 of the rear housing without binding. Then, on unlocking, the free end of the hasp under the tension of the hasp springs 54) and 51 can freely leave the recess just as though there had been no sagging, and can be readily restored on relocking. Also, since the pivoted region of the hasp is not pinned to rod 46 but merely a snug fit the hasp, if required, may be manually adjusted vertically, to relieve binding due to sagging or other malalignment. The extension-compression feature of the springs tends to return the hasp to the central position on the bracket when sag is corrected.

While not a part of the instant invention, there are shown in dashed lines in FIG. 2, the means for attaching the webbing 54 of the fence and gate to the vertical frame 15 and gate frame portion 45. Bands 55 encircle the posts and their straight parallel ends straddle the stretcher bars '56 and are bolted to each other by a bolt 57 bearing against the far side of the stretcher bar bands 55 being provided at the usual interval along the posts every two feet.

To the exterior surface of the front housing 11 an ad- 6 hesive-backed name plate, not shown, is preferably afiixed to provide a neater finished unit and to cover the casting appearance of such wall of the front housing 11, since the core hole 27 for the cylinder 13 will vary in size.- Furthermore, such name-plate provides the necessary snugness between the back of the brass cylinder face 15 and the cast front housing 11.

Various modifications will readily be made by the skilled Worker in the art. At all events, the embodiment herein disclosed is not limitative inany respect, being i1 lustrative only of my invention.

What I claim is:

1. A lock for gates having frames of hollow sect-ion comprising a first hollow section, a pin tumbler lock extending through the first hollow section from the front of the gate to the rear thereof, the lock having a rotatable plug, an elongated cam coupled to the rear of the rotatable plug, a second hollow section movable relative to the first hollow section and spaced therefrom, a bracket pivotally supported on the rear portion of the second hollow section, a hasp having a vertical mortise therethrough and a horizontal elongated aperture through the front wall of the mortise and of such dimensions as to permit passage of the cam in its horizontal position into the mortise, means pivotally supporting the hasp on the bracket, and a housing on the first hollow section enveloping at least the lock portion extending from the rear of the first hollow section and having a first groove to receive the free end region of the hasp when the cam is horizontal and a pair of diametrically opposite internal grooves to receive the ends of the cam on rotation of the cam within the mortise from the horizontal position.

2. The lock according to claim 1 in which the plug of the lock has an arcuate groove of substantially 180 in its cylindrical surface, and a pin extends through the body into the arcuate groove at substantially the midlength of the groove to limit rotation of the plug to in either direction.

3. The lock according to claim 1 in which the cam is coupled to the plug by means of an elongated connecting bar attached to the remote end region of the plug, the cam is integral with a shaft coaxial with the plug, an elongated slot in the end region of the shaft the nearer to the plug telescopically engages the connecting bar, and means about the shaft coupled to the lock body to maintain the engagement between the slot and the bar.

4. The lock according to claim 3 in which the coupling means about the shaft comprises an elongated projection to the rear of the body of the lock and adapted to extend from the hollow section in which it is installed, the elongated projection being threaded, and an internally threaded cap nut screwed onto the projection; and the rear of the body is provided with a threaded horizontal bore spaced from the projection, and a screw bolt through the wall of the hollow section and screwed into the threaded bore for preventing rotation of the lock body.

5. The lock according to claim 1 in which the means pivotally supporting the bracket on the second hollow section comprise a threaded first bolt extending through the wall of the second hollow section into the interior of the second hollow section, a second bolt extending through the wall of the second hollow section at a region diametrically opposite the threaded first bolt, the second bolt having an expanded head of which the bottom face is contoured to match the exterior surface of the wall of the second hollow section at which the second bolt is positioned, while the upper face of the head is substantially spherical, the head of the bolt being tight against the wall, and the body of the second bolt within the interior of the second hollow section having internal threading into which the threaded first bolt is screwed.

6. The lock according to claim 1 in which the means pivotally supporting the hasp on the bracket comprises a rod, supported at its ends in the bracket, a pair of coiled springs about the rod, one end of each spring being connected to the hasp and the other end of each spring being connected to the bracket, one spring being coiied in a direction opposite to that of the other spring, and the springs being so pretensioned as to tend to pivot the hasp out of the first groove of the casing so that when the cam Within the mortise is rotated from its vertical to the horizontal position the hasp is moved out of the first groove under the tension of the springs.

7. The lock according to claim 6 in which the hasp pivots about the rod in a sliding fit so that on sagging of 10 2,996,323

' hasp in the first groove.

References Qiteti in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,965,336 FitzGerald July 3, 1934 2,423,982 Kaufman 51113 15, 1947 Kiilongh Aug. 15, 1961 

1. A LOCK FOR GATES HAVING FRAMES OF HOLLOW SECTION COMPRISING A FIRST HOLLOW SECTION, A PIN TUMBLER LOCK EXTENDING THROUGH THE FIRST HOLLOW SECTION FROM THE FRONT OF THE GATE TO THE REAR THEREOF, THE LOCK HAVING A ROTATABLE PLUG, AN ELONGATED CAM COUPLED TO THE REAR OF THE ROTATABLE PLUG, A SECOND HOLLOW SECTION MOVABLE RELATIVE TO THE FIRST HOLLOW SECTION AND SPACED THEREFROM, A BRACKET PIVOTALLY SUPPORTED ON THE REAR PORTION OF THE SECOND HOLLOW SECTION, A HASP HAVING A VERTICAL MORTISE THERETHROUGH AND A HORIZONTAL ELONGATED APERTURE THROUGH THE FRONT WALL OF THE MORTISE AND OF SUCH DIMENSIONS AS TO PERMIT PASSAGE OF THE CAM IN ITS HORIZONTAL POSITION INTO THE MORTISE, MEANS PIVOTALLY SUPPORTING THE HASP ON THE BRACKET, AND A HOUSING ON THE FIRST HOLLOW SECTION ENVELOPING AT LEAST THE LOCK PORTION EXTENDING FROM THE REAR OF THE FIRST HOLLOW SECTION AND HAVING A FIRST GROOVE TO RECEIVE THE FREE END REGION OF THE HASP WHEN THE CAM IS HORIZONTAL AND A PAIR OF DIAMETRICALLY OPPOSITE INTERNAL GROOVES TO RECEIVE THE ENDS OF THE CAM ON ROTATION OF THE CAM WITHIN THE MORTISE FROM THE HORIZONTAL POSITION. 